BBC - Films - Michael Mann

Michael Mann is one of America's leading directors, with an impressive CV stretching back to 1981's James Caan thriller Thief. Subsequent movies include Manhunter - which introduced Hannibal Lecter to the big screen; Daniel Day-Lewis in period action pic The Last Of The Mohicans; Heat, which famously paired Al Pacino and Robert De Niro; Russell Crowe in whistle-blowing drama The Insider; and boxing biopic Ali, with Will Smith. Now he's calling the shots in Collateral, an LA-set thriller starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. With a track record this good, we can almost overlook his involvement in 80s TV trash Miami Vice. Almost.

WATCH: MICHAEL MANN

The director talks about Collateral, Jamie Foxx playing against type, and what Tom Cruise is like to work with

Fact File

Date of Birth:
5 February 1943

Famous For: Being one of Hollywood's most consistent and intelligent directors

Infamous For: Introducing the white jacket and rolled-up sleeves look in 80s TV series Miami Vice

Soundbite: "I think being a film director is like being a heavyweight fighter - you only have x number of fights in you"

Useless Fact: After graduating from the London Film School in 1970, he wrote several episodes of 70s TV shows Police Woman and Starsky & Hutch

What we really want to know: What he thinks of the appalling Manhunter remake Red Dragon

FILMS Links

Collateral film review